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In an effort to derail the AIRR Act, advocates for the status quo would have you believe that the legislation would harm America’s valued general aviation community.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Modernizing the air traffic control infrastructure would help general aviators by providing a greater margin of safety and efficiency. Since most general aviation facilities in this country exist in smaller communities, outside of major airports, the current infrastructure often lags behind their big-city counterparts. The AIRR Act would free ATC managers from the Byzantine procurement rules of the FAA and introduce innovations that will improve the level of service for many in the general aviation sector.

Finally, some have tried to scare general aviators into believing this new system will cost them money. The truth is that noncommercial fliers will be exempt from the user fees under the AIRR Act and will continue to fund airport improvements the same way they always have via fuel taxes.

As the general aviation community continues to examine the AIRR Act, they will discover just how much it will benefit them and support America’s culture of flying.

Crain’s New York Business has recently been a hotbed of writings between advocates for restructuring air traffic control and those who defend the busted status quo. In mid-December, executives from American, JetBlue, Southwest and United airlines penned a thoughtful commentary on how restructuring ATC would relieve congestion in the skies over New York City. Noting that New York’s airports are “consistently ranked among the nation’s top-five most-delayed airports for years,” they urged adoption of a modernized system to be overseen by an independent, not-for-profit organization. Stating that obvious that such a switch will present challenges, they made the trenchant point that “doing nothing is certain to perpetuate a flawed system that is increasingly frustrating and costly both to airlines and our passengers.”(more…)